v2.3.0

v2.3.0 (2026-08-02) - release

This release moves downloads to HTTPS and the apps catalog to the new SidecarTridge store. The Apps page gains filters for who made a microfirmware and how tested it is, and developers get a way to deploy a microfirmware over WiFi without a debug probe.

New features

• Downloads now work over both http:// and https:// from a single firmware image, chosen per request from the URL scheme. Microfirmware installs and the firmware OTA both use it.
• The version check and the firmware OTA now use https:// by default.
• The apps catalog has moved to https://md-store.sidecartridge.com/atari-st/apps.json.
• Each microfirmware on the Apps page now shows who made it, and a Creator filter sits alongside Platform and Features. Creators who publish a website get a small link icon on their filter chip. Microfirmwares published without creator information are shown as SidecarTridge.
• New Release type filter on the Apps page: All, Stable and Beta. Stable hides beta versions, Beta shows only beta versions, and All shows everything. It filters the list you already have, and does not change which catalog is loaded.
• Deploy API for microfirmware developers. A .uf2 can be pushed to the device over WiFi and launched with two curl calls, instead of needing a debug probe or the USB/BOOTSEL dance. It is off unless you install the DEV APP and stay on the Development channel, and a red banner appears on every page while it is on. Documented in docs/DEPLOY-API.md, including a Makefile target. See the security note below before enabling it.

Changes

• Booster is built as MinSizeRel for release flows. Linking TLS costs about 121 KB of flash, and -O3 no longer fits the 768 KB slot.
• The Stable and Beta buttons on the Apps page used to switch catalog and reload the page, quietly rewriting your saved catalog setting. They now only filter, and the Config page is the single place that chooses the catalog.
• The catalog options on the Config page say what each one is for: Stable - Tested release (default), Testing - unstable releases, Development - Local development only.
• Official creators are listed first in the Creator filter.
• The build scripts now stop at the first failure. A failed compile or link used to be stepped over, so a build could report success while packaging firmware left over from an earlier run, or produce no firmware at all.
• Debug builds are compiled with the same size optimisation as release builds and differ only in their debug logging. A debug build previously overflowed the flash slot and never linked at all.
• The Atari ST terminal firmware is rebuilt on every build, including in CI, where it was being skipped without any error.
• Devices already using one of the standard catalog channels are switched to the new store automatically on upgrade. A custom catalog URL is never modified.
• The Development channel now points at the new store and works. The Beta channel points there too but the store does not publish that catalog yet, so selecting it shows an empty list until it does.

Fixes

• The WiFi power setting now defaults to No Powersave, an always-on radio. It previously defaulted to Disabled PM, which also disables power saving but leaves the radio's listen intervals in place. Existing devices keep whatever they have configured; this only changes new devices and factory resets.

Security

• HTTPS on the device is encrypted but not authenticated. Certificates are not verified: the device has no CA bundle and no real-time clock, so certificate validity cannot be checked. Downloads it performs itself — microfirmware binaries and the firmware OTA — are protected against passive eavesdropping on the network, but not against an active man-in-the-middle who can substitute content. Do not treat an https:// binary URL as proof of origin. (The apps catalog is fetched by your browser rather than the device, so it does get normal certificate verification.)
• The MD5 check on a downloaded microfirmware is an integrity check, not a signature. It confirms the stored bytes match what the catalog said to expect, catching truncation and corruption. Because the expected hash arrives from the same catalog over the same connection as the binary, it does not establish authenticity.
• The developer deploy API is not authenticated. While it is enabled, anyone who can reach the device on your network can install and run code on it, and that code runs on a cartridge attached to your Atari's bus. The web UI is served over plain http, so the connection is not protected either. Requiring the DEV APP to be installed and the Development channel to be selected makes switching it on deliberate and visible; it is not a security boundary. Enable it only on a network you trust, and switch it off when you are done. An uploaded binary is not hash-checked, because the catalog's MD5 describes the placeholder it replaced.
• Verified certificates remain planned but are not in this release.